Picture and motif finder



May 23, 1950 E. LANE 2,508,864 PICTURE AND MOTIF` FINDER Filedi Dec. 11, 194e /ayx 5mg ll Patented May 23, 1950 ICE "PICTURE AND MOTIF FINDER 'Erik LennartJaime,Y Stockholm, :Sweden -Application December 11, 1946, SerialNof715g491 'In Sweden`-'Noven`1ber 22, l1946 C1. l818-415 l .1 Claim. 1.1 The presentflinvention refers `to a directeaiming -fflrrder f-which mayabe used "to advantage Valso @as f-anangle findergandlwhich'in-both cases renders `:a Wellsdened, Aexceedingly 'luminous "image,

Whichllisfproperly positioned fboth laterally `and "vertically rThe 'fnder "differs from previously known finders, llfirst, *by the f' fact that in its rcariug Yof vthe rays to fix the position of zftheeye relatively to thereflecting Ysurfaces which have been adapted according -to the following description. The reflecting vsurfaces are preferably fconsti-tuted byangularlypositioned mirrors -ror by the reflecting surfacesof aiprism.

*The `invention is .illustratedby a few forms of :embodiment Ain ,.the. accompanying diagrammatic `drawing,'..vifhereiniis yafzcross sectionrcf a 45-prism. Fig. 2 illustrates the successive reiiections in the surfaces of the prism and the adaptation thereof. Fig. 3 is a corresponding view showing a further adaptation. Fig. 4 shows how the prism should be cut in accordance with the invention. Fig. 5 shows a modified form of embodiment.

In the drawing, I designates an ordinary prism with the entrance surface 2, the exit surface 3, and the reflecting surfaces 4 and 5. According to Fig. 2, the exit surface 3 has a device B with a peep sight for the fixing of the position of the eye relatively to the reflecting surfaces and the desired image.

This latter condition is related to the adaptation of the reflecting surfaces, whereby nonrelevant images are screened off. With angularly set reflecting surfaces, a series of images are produced in each of them. In the present case, a series of images of the actual prism are produced in each of the reflecting surfaces 4 and 5. If the prism is looked into through the surface 3, then the ilrst, the second, and the third image of the actual prism may be observed in the reflecting surface I. These images have been denoted vby?! 8: and 3, respectively. The vsecond limage fof 'the entrance opening oftheffprism is designated by .10. 'Provided it is desired 'to see `the veri7 uimage Ill, whenfthe.observingfdeviceS'is locked vthrough,v andnotftheother images ofzthe prism, rthe-reflecting surface! shouldibeso: adapted that -if straight lines .arev conceived as'extended from .the -observing ldevice 6 `vto the image I0, such lines 4will limit the reflecting surface. above-named image was selected with respect to the V'factthat thesarne showsthe motif prop- The erly positioned both laterally and vertically, and

by the I'fact that it'hasiitsI plane parallelling the `exit'opening. The limitedv reflecting surface profducedf inthe adaptation is designated'by- I I `The vhatched portions inthe drawing show-what parts of' the images vare thus screened off. v

Fig. 3 shows the masking of the reilectingvsur- "face 5 v"which is f'irs't tl`1it'by1the incoming ray. Here-too, the hatched portions show which parts ofthe'imagesare thus screenedfofvthat is to say, 'how'allimages after the irst image 'I2 of the vadapted reflecting surface'are screened of save -for thel image III. 'The reflecting surface`5 should -befada-ptedsothat'if-lines are conceived as extended 'from-"the observingrdevice :E to theimage -I0,such -lines will tlimit the first image'of Vthe adapted reflecting surface, which is denoted by I3.

As'will appearfrom Fig.3,lcertain parts of the finder Vmay-be cut Y away" without disadvantage, so

image I0 of the entrance opening is nearer to the observing device 6, however, whereby the angle at which the motif is observed becomes considerably larger, while the whole finder is at the same time considerably smaller in spite of an entrance opening of the same size.

The device for the fixing of the position of the eye relatively to the mirror surfaces may preiera-bly be made from semi-transparent material, such as a mask with an opening therein or with a portion of the semi-transparent mask made wholly transparent.

The mirror surfaces may be plane or curved. If the two mirror surfaces are plane, an image is obtained without any enlargement or reduc- 3 tion thereof, and without any errors in tracing or any distortion of colors. This nder is suitable in scientific photography and in color photography. Fig. 1 shows the path of light in a finder with plane mirror surfaces. A denotes the incoming ray, which is first subjected to total reilection in the mirror surface 5, and then in the mirror surface 4, in a manner such that the outgoing ray B is at right angles or approximately so to the incoming ray A.

If one of the mirror surfaces or both of them are curved, the mirror surface which is first hit by the incoming ray is preferably spherically convex, whereby a reduced image and a large image ileld are obtained. By varying the focal distance of the convex mirror surface, an image field suitable for different objectives is obtained. But inasmuch as the image of the motif becomes small in proportion to the increase of the image field, the image will have to be enlarged,

and this is effected, if the mirror surface which is last hit by the incoming ray is spherically concave. The focal distance of the convex mirror surface shall be such that the virtual image produced by the convex mirror surface is in or inside the focal plane of the concave mirror surface. The path of light in a finder with curved mirrors is shown in Fig. 5. The incoming rays ilrst hit the convex mirror surface I4, which reflects and diverges the rays, and then the concave mirror surface I5, which reflects and converges them. If the virtual image I6 of the motif, which is produced in the convex mirror surface, is in the focal plane of the concave mirror, which is taken to be the case in the drawing, the outgoing rays will be parallel or nearly parallel, an enlarged virtual image being thus obtained at a great distance.

The curved mirror surface may be replaced by a plane mirror surface in combination with a lens. A negative lens and a plane mirror surface render, the same as the convex mirror surface, a reduced virtual image with a large image field, and with different focal distances of the lens a variation of the magnitude of the image field is likewise obtained. The lens is preferably placed either immediately in front of the mirror surface or at the entrance opening of the finder for the light rays. At an enlargement of the remay be replaced by a positive lens combined with lll a plane mirror surface, an enlarged virtual lmage being then also obtained at a great distance. The lens is preferably placed either immediately in front of the mirror surface or at the entrance opening of the finder for the light rays. Here, it must be attended to, however, that the image produced by the convex mirror surface or the combination plane mirror-negative lens is in or inside the focal plane of the concave mirror surface or of the positive lens.

The reflecting surfaces may be arranged on collapsible mirrors.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

A View ilnder for cameras, comprising a member having a view opening to pass rays from said View, a pair of reflecting surfaces disposed n the path of said rays and angularly disposed with respect to each other and with respect to the path of the rays from said opening and so arranged that the doubly reflected rays cross the path of the incoming rays, a member having a peep sight opening for fixing the position of the Aeye through which the doubly reflected rays pass,

ERIK LENNART LANE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 624,517 Mercer May 9, 1899 2,323,005 Bertele June 29, 1943 2,340,623 Simon Feb. 1, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 366,674 France Aug. 3, 1906 196,301 Germany Mar. 12, 1908 399,853 France May 7, 1909 556,783 Germany Jan. 28, 1933 627,361 Germany May 13, 1936 

